The Silver Ring
by estelle bolin
Summary: Ron runs into a girl in a secret passageway and falls--both literally and figuratively. Ron/OC R&R!
1. Oriana

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**A/N:** this is a really short first chapter, but what the hey. i felt that it was a good spot to end. this is my first harry potter fanfic, so let me know what you think!

**stella-was-here

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Ron rounded the corner, checking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was behind him. He was being paranoid. He shook his head, chuckling a little to himself. He pushed a curtain out of the way to enter a secret passageway and promptly crashed into someone.

"Hey!" a girl's voice yelled.

They did a sort of complicated dance in an attempt to keep balance but failed miserably.

"Sorry!" he muttered, trying to pull his hand out from under her. Her spine was crushing his fingers.

"Could you get off me, please?" she asked after a minute of silence.

"My hand's stuck."

"I know, I can feel it."

"You have a really bony spine."

"Umm... thanks?"

He rolled off of her. She lifted a shoulder blade and he moved his hand. They laid there next to each other for a few minutes, their heavy breathing the only noise.

"Ow," she huffed, half laughing and half panting.

They both burst out laughing.

She rolled onto her side and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Oriana Harper."

He took her hand. "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."

"_The _Ron Weasley?" she asked. "Harry Potter's best friend?"

"Yeah, that's me. Harry Potter's best friend," he said rudely. He stood up.

"Hey, I meant no offense. I've just always heard your name next to Harry's."

He put his hand out to help her up. She looked at him with an odd expression.

"I'm guessing life's not that great in Griffyndor right now."

He sighed and sat back down next to her.

* * *

"Where've you been?" Hermione asked.

Ron didn't answer until he had shut the portrait hole and sat down in one of the over-stuffed armchairs around the fire. Hermione.

"No where."

"Why do you have your broom?" she asked.

"I went out to get some fresh air," he lied.

"That's a lot of fresh air. You've been gone for hours. Harry's already back from his detention. You need to go and talk to him and find out what's wrong. I think Umbridge is up to something more horrid than Harry's letting on."

Ron stood and headed for the spiral staircase.

When he got up to the common room though, Harry was already asleep. He put his broom away and slipped silently into his pajamas and laid down on his bed. He sighed.

"What's up with you, Ron?" Neville asked.

"Nothing."

"Why'd you sigh then?"

Ron paused. Harry was probably feigning sleep and it'd be easier if he found out this way.

"I met this girl. More like knocked her over. But still."

"Ah."

Harry rolled over 'in his sleep.' Ron grinned.

"Night, Neville."

"Night, Ron."

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

"Where'd you wander off to last night, mate?" Harry asked Ron at breakfast.

Ron shrugged, shoveling porridge into his mouth.

"Morning Harry, morning Ron. Have you seen Hermione?"

"I guesh she justh hashn'th come don to breakfashth yet," Ron said through a mouthful of food.

"Ron, your manners are simply dreadful," Hermione scolded, sitting down next to Harry.

"Oh, good, you're here Hermione. I was having some trouble with the transfiguration homework."

"Let me see what you have so far."

Hermione scanned the parchment. Ron continued eating. She rolled her eyes disgustedly at him.

"How was detention?" Ron asked after he'd finished his breakfast.

"Horrible."

"You'd better behave today, little Harry," George said, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Angelina's on the warpath. One of your detentions is during tryouts," Fred continued.

Harry groaned.

"Don't look now, but here she comes," George warned.

"We'll be sure to not miss your funeral, Harry."

* * *

Harry was still in a bad mood after his encounter with Angelina and particularly touchy this year, so Hermione and Ron gave him a little space. They talked little on the way to History of Magic. During the class, Harry and Ron played several games of exploding snap without Professor Binns noticing, much to Hermione's dismay. She took the liberty of lecturing them as they headed down the marble staircase into the great hall.

"Hermione, will you lay off?"

"You two really should be trying to pay attention in classes his year. We have our O.W.L's! They'll be here before-"

"Oi!" Ron yelled. "Oriana!"

"Hey, Ron." She grinned at him.

"Oriana, this is Harry and Hermione. Harry and Hermione, Oriana."

"We've already met," said Hermione.

"Have you?" asked Ron.

"In the library," Oriana said.

"She's been in a few of our classes, too. She's in Ravenclaw."

"Have you?" Ron asked again.

"Yes." She nodded.

* * *

"So that's what you were doing last night," Hermione grinned. "You were hanging out with Oriana."

"She's good looking," Harry commented.

"Like I didn't notice. I ran into her up in that secret passageway on the fifth floor behind the tapestry of the wizards all smoking pipes and talking."

"Actually, Ron," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "It's a depiction of the Warlock Council-"

"Yeah, yeah. So tell me, what's she like?"

"Well, she's in Ravenclaw, so she's exceptionally smart."

"Smarter than you?"

"Possibly. I don't know."

"Impossible."

Hermione grinned. "Aw, Ron. You don't mean that."

"Hermione, you're the smartest in our year," Harry said. She beamed at them.

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**A/N:** short, i know. meh. i've got a lot of stories to update! and the next chapter will be ron and oriana hanging out again. who should barge in and ruin it? REVIEW! i need plenty of feedback :)

**stella-was-here

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	3. Blake

**A/N:** WOWO. it's been a while. yeah, got an ipod touch for free because my sister got a laptop for college. so it was like i got an ipod for her birthday... well i finally can fit all of my music onto one device! it's nice to have it all on there. i used to have to rotate music for my old nano. and it gets internet so i've just been using that for my email checking and story reading. anyways, so i finally wrote another chapter. my yoda/jedi master gave me ideas (she calls me her young padawan). her pen name is principessa d'avlo, so you should all go and read her new batman fanfic tentatively titled the long lost girl. i've read it and i love it. maybe that's because i love the DARK KNIGHT!! ahem, excuse my enthusiasm, just saw it. it's amazing. on to the story, then!

**stella-was-here

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"Where're you off to?" Harry asked Ron as they both climbed through the portrait hole.

"Library."

Harry looked at him incredulously. "Is Oriana going to be there?"

"Yep. What about you? Another detention?"

"Yeah," Harry huffed, tugging at his sleeve uncomfortably.

The walked in silence as they made the descent from Griffindor Tower.

"You alright?" Ron asked, gripping the railing as the staircase began to move.

"I'm fine," he snapped.

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"So why did you have your broom last night?" Oriana asked, absentmindedly flipping the pages of _Where There's A Wand, There's A Way_.

"I—um... I was flying." He busied himself with stacking the books that Oriana had strewn across the table.

"And the award for stating the obvious goes to... Ron Weasley!" She started to clap.

"Yeah, yeah. I was practicing, okay?"

"Practicing for what?"

"I'm uh... I'm gonna try out for the quidditch team."

"Oh! What position?"

"Uh... keeper."

"Cool. Are you any good?"

He was surprised at the enthusiasm she was showing. Hermione hated quidditch talk.

"I dunno," he mummbled. "I guess. See my brothers... they're really good. And they made me keep for them in the summer when they would practice."

"I could help you, you know. If you want me to. I'm not exellent but I can stay in the air."

"That'd be great!" Ron grinned.

"Did you go to the World Cup last year? It was brilliant! Except for the death-eater part, I guess."

"Oh, yeah! I was in the top box with the minister! It was incredible! We got to see the players up close and everything!"

She moaned with jealousy. "How on earth did you get a hold of those tickets?"

"My dad did a favor for Ludo Bagman," he bragged.

"You're sooo lucky! You have older brothers to play quidditch with and you have an awesome dad!"

"Yeah, I guess. It's not so great all of the time, like I explained."

"Oh, yeah. I guess having so many siblings to live up to and everything does get really tiring. But I'm an only child. I'd kill to have so many siblings."

"You'd have to live with hand-me-downs."

She laughed, closing the book and adding it to the pile Ron had made. She pulled a fresh sheet of parchment from her bag and started writing. She wrote just as fast as Hermione, but not nearly as small and her handwriting was more like Lavnendar's and Parvarti's.

"I think it'd be worth it."

"Really?" he said disbelievingly.

"I know it must be so hard living in the shadow of Harry Potter and all of your brothers, but you really have to step outside of the box and see how lucky you really are."

She looked up at him, a contented expression on her face. Ron had never thought of things from her point of view. No wonder she was in Ravenclaw; she thought things through in every possible perspective. He was speechless.

"I--I guess I've never really thought about it..."

"In a positive way?" she finished for him.

"Yeah," he breathed. He watched her with a dreamy look.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing?' It doesn't look like a nothing to me."

"Just thinking."

"About...?"

"About you."

She smiled and blushed.

"So was I!" A Slytherin boy slid into the seat next to Oriana. Her smile vanished, a scowl taking its place.

"What do you want, Blake?" she asked, annoyed.

"Just wanted a little chat. You wouldn't mind leaving us alone for a few, would you?"

"Umm..." Ron stuttered.

"Yes. Yes he would. We can talk later," she snapped.

"No, see, I wanted to talk now." He twidled with a ring on his index finger. Her eyes widened in fear.

* * *

Ron was confused. Something about this Blake guy screamed bad news. It was almost like he had a sort of blackmail-control over her. He didn't like it, and he was going to find out what it was. He knew that he was majorly crushing on this girl, and no idiot from Slytherin was going to mess with her.

"Oi! Harry!" Ron called across the common room. Harry was talking to Fred and George in a corner.

"What's up, Ron?" Harry asked, following him up the steps to the dorm rooms.

"Do you know a Slytherin named Blake?"

"I dunno. What year is he in?"

"He looked big. Like a sixth or seventh year."

"Why didn't you ask Fred or George then?"

"I... well that's beside the point. He's..."

"Picking on your new girlfriend?" Hermione asked.

"When did you get here?" Ron asked.

"Just a few seconds ago, obviously."

"Do you mean Blake Livingston, the sixth year that Malfoy hangs around with sometimes? Oriana went out with him in second year. She dumped him in third year because he had supported getting rid of the muggle-borns and was... too much like Malfoy, I guess."

"I think he's black-mailing her somehow."

"I wouldn't put it past him. She's a pretty girl and very popular among the... older boys. She dumped him in the entrance hall before the feast in third year." Ron scowled and his face turned a little red. Hermione hid a smile.

"I remember that," Harry chuckled.

"She told me that he can get really jealous and controling."

"What are you going to do about him?" Harry asked.

"I have no idea."


End file.
